


Call It What You Want

by andrewminyqrd



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: I write about them too much IM SORRY, Love Confessions, M/M, YES ITS A TAYLOR SWIFT RELATED TITLE FIGHT ME, sort of soft??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 14:45:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13250433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrewminyqrd/pseuds/andrewminyqrd
Summary: Going after a goalie in Exy is one of the worst things you could do. One striker from an opposing team didn't quite get the memo... or he just didn't care.Basically, Andrew gets hurt and Neil swears at him a lot. And then he says another thing that he didn't mean to say. But he meant it.





	Call It What You Want

Neil couldn’t breathe.  
Kevin had passed him the ball, and without hesitation Neil threw it at the goal, scoring another point for the Foxes. They were already in the lead, but this last shot put them up to 7-5.  
The excitement soon wore off though, when the Jackals got the ball and did everything they could to score. The team had a new anger, hostility that was not strong in the beginning of the game. But with 3 minutes left, Neil could understand their frustration.  
The Jackals were playing dirty, tripping the Foxes, taunting them, and sometimes even getting more physical.  
Yellow cards were handed out almost constantly, and a few red cards made their way into the game as well.  
All of these attempts were practically worthless, the Foxes have been through hell and back. They weren’t scared by the harsh tactics being used, they were raised on harshness. 

Most of the stuff the opposing team was doing was “illegal” in the game of Exy. But there was illegal, and then there was.. well, think of it as assault and then terrorism. That was how extreme some moves were. 

The “terrorism” category included injuring a referee/coach, head-shots (hitting someone directly in the head, on purpose), and worst of all, going after a goalie.  
Going after a goalie was the worst possible thing you could do in Exy. Even crossing the goal lines was against the rules, so physically assaulting a goalie when at their post is call for an immediate break in the game. Most of the time it ends up with the attacker kicked off the field for the rest of the game, sometimes even off the team. 

The instances of this happening aren’t common. Doing it is athletic suicide. 

 

One particularly angry striker from the opposing team didn’t seem to know this, or they just didn’t care. Because when Andrew blocked his shot on goal with little effort, the striker snapped.  
He shouted something at Andrew that Neil couldn’t hear from his distance. Then, everything seemed to go in slow motion. 

The striker was running inside the goal lines, and when he reached Andrew, he hit him in the gut with the butt of his racket, and tackled him to the ground. 

Goalie armor was made to protect bodies from fast balls and hard falls, not from other players.  
The rest of the Jackals all ran towards their rogue striker, either stopping the striker, or helping him. It was unclear.  
The Foxes were all involved too, a few pulling people apart, other throwing insults and punches every few seconds. 

The crowd was deafening. From yelling to boos, to a few cheers. Referees’ whistles were piercing, as they ran to the scene. 

 

When he finally got to Andrew, he was near the wall, with the striker who attacked him on the floor.

“Andrew!” He called once he got close.  
Andrew looked up, yanked his helmet off and wiped blood from his nose with the back of his gloved hand.  
“Jesus, are you alright?” Neil asked, now only a few feet away from him.  
“Better than this fucker.” Andrew gestured to the striker, passed out on the ground.  
“Is he breathing?”  
“Who cares?” 

Neil bent down and slapped the boy’s cheek not-so lightly. He stirred.  
“He’s alive.”  
“Good for him.” Andrew coughed.

Neil heard the referees ending the fight behind them, the yelling had ceased for the most part. But all Neil could focus on was Andrew. 

“Hey! Neil, Andrew!” Dan called, rushing to them. “Are you guys okay?”  
“Peachy.” Andrew grunted.  
Dan scoffed and looked down at the Jackal. She kicked his side.  
“Surprised he is still alive.” She commented.  
“Didn’t feel like going to prison tonight.” Andrew responded. 

Nicky and Renee showed up in their semi-circle, surrounding the passed out dumbass.  
“This kind of looks like a seance.” Nicky pointed out. 

They group started moving towards the exit when Andrew fell to his knees.  
“Andrew?” Neil knelt down new to him, lightly touching his cheek.  
He turned away quickly, but Neil saw that his teeth were clenched, and his eyes were squinted in pain.  
“Andrew. Look at me.” 

When Neil saw Andrew’s face unclose he noticed how bad he actually was.  
Andrew’s nose was bruised, bleeding and probably broken. The there was his torso, he was gripping his ribcage like one or more of his ribs were broken, his left shoulder was out of it’s socket, with the chance of it being sprained. Thankfully, it didn’t look broken. 

“Stop looking at me like that.” Andrew grunted.  
“What? Andrew, you are sporting multiple injuries, and I am 5 seconds away from kicking your ass even more for not mentioning them the second I got to you! Instead, you acted like you were perfectly fine!”  
Andrew’s eyebrow arched up. “Looks like we have switched positions, huh?”  
Neil felt as if his head was going to burst into flames. “You always scold me for lying and not caring about my health. You should care about yours!”  
“I do not scold you, I’m not your fucking mother. It’s just a few bruises, I’ll live.”  
“You are a complete and utter asshole. A huge fucking asshole.”  
“Yeah, yeah. Just help me up would you?”  
“I’m going to help get you to Abby. Yes or no?” Neil sighed.  
Andrew replied with a “Yes”, and an eye roll. 

Neil leaned Andrew against him, and slowly walked him towards where Wymack, Abby and most of the Foxes were waiting.  
Renee came to Andrew’s other side, helping to keep him up.  
Neil realized that Andrew had been limping slightly. 

“Andrew fucking Minyard, you are so dead.” Neil said when they sat Andrew down on a bench so Abby could take a quick look at him before the medics arrived.  
Andrew flicked Neil’s forehead. “Shut up.” 

“Minyard, you are one lucky bastard.” Wymack grumbled.  
“That’s a first.” Aaron said.  
“Fuck off.” Neil snapped. 

The team looked at him in slight shock. Neil didn’t often lose his temper with the Foxes. Not even Aaron. (Though, sometimes with Kevin when he was pushing Neil too hard.)  
Neil shut his eyes and counted to ten in english, then french, and then in german.  
“Sorry.” He half-heartedly said.  
He didn’t get a response. 

 

Once the medics arrived, they tried to get Andrew on a gurney. Neil quickly stopped them, telling them that Andrew didn’t like to be touched, and asked if he could help Andrew himself. The medics were hesitant, but they didn’t really have a choice.  
And when Andrew was loaded into the ambulance, Neil persisted on going with them. He wasn’t going to let Andrew out of his sight.

 

When they got to the hospital, Andrew was already extremely tense. His hatred of hospitals made it worse.  
When the doctor finished his examination of Andrew, Neil was finally allowed in his room.

“I’m surprised he isn’t passed out. He hit his head pretty bad.. but he wouldn’t accept any drug to assist him.”Neil just nodded, and watched the doctor leave the room.

“Andrew.” Neil said.  
Andrew turned his head on the pillow towards Neil.  
Neil could only sigh, he didn’t know what to say. He slowly moved to put a hand in Andrew’s hair, waiting for his approval. When Andrew nodded, Neil brushed his hair out of his face, and lightly kissed his forehead.  
“Junkie..” Andrew mumbled.  
“Shut up. You scared me.”  
Andrew sat up despite Neil’s silent protest.  
“Don’t say that.”  
“What?” Neil asked, confused.  
“Don’t say you’re scared of me.” Andrew continued.  
Neil dropped his hand from Andrew’s hair to his bicep.  
“That is not what I said. You getting hurt scared me. Not knowing if you were okay, scared me.” Neil explained.

Andrew nodded, and grabbed Neil’s wrist off of his bicep, connecting their fingers. He stared down at their intertwined hands for a few minutes and when he looked up Neil saw something deeper in his eyes.  
“Yes or no?” Andrew asked.  
“Yes.”  
Andrew kissed him. 

It wasn’t quick nor rough like their usual kisses. It was slow, and soft.  
When they disconnected, Neil felt as if he was on top of clouds.  
“I’m sorry.” Neil’s eyes shot completely open. “What?” The corner of Andrew’s mouth quirked up. “Fuck you. I’m not repeating myself, junkie.”  
Neil couldn’t help but laugh. “I love you too.” He responded in a joking-tone.  
It took a few seconds for Neil to realize what he just said. For Andrew, it felt like an eternity.

“I mean, that’s not what I meant to say. I meant it, but I know it’s not really… you don’t have to say it back-“ Neil rambled on, only stopping when Andrew kissed him again.  
Andrew cleared his throat, “Neil.” He sighed, cupping Neil’s face in his hands. “I hate you.” 

Neil felt a smile form on his face unwillingly. “I know you do.”

 

Neil had that stupid grin on his face for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I'm sorry for the Taylor Swift related topics recently with these two, I just really fucking love Reputation and my boys. 
> 
> Kudos and Comments are always appreciated!  
> If you find any mistakes please let me know I can go in and fix them!  
> (Ps, Happy 2018!)
> 
> \- Sara


End file.
